Start me up!

I am loving ‘Dani California’ by Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The song is the funky Chilli’s of old, but with enough rock about it to keep the more recent fans happy. It is a killer clip too! Anthony Kedis looks so much better with longer hair, he is hot either way, but long hair on him is a go-er! The anticipation for ‘Stadium Arcadium’ is building; it will be really interesting to hear the direction they have chosen to go with this album. If the single is anything to go by this could be one their most successful albums in recent times. Hopefully Flea feels like visiting his Grandmother soon so we get a visit!

Faker was amazing at The Corner last week. They were extremely tight and working the stage well. Highlight for me is ‘My Love is For Sale’, such an under-rated song. Low-light was ‘Hurricane’, about 20-odd fans rushed the stage and the band were more focused on them than the song; as the rest of the set had been so tight it made this sloppy song far more obvious. They can hardly be blamed for this though, it would be distracting having people shaking their thing in your face while you are trying to perform. Other than this last song it was a mighty impressive effort. The gig sold out too, which is a great sign. Singer Nathan Hudson is captivating and had the crowd eating out of his hand. Faker have an infectious energy about them, I can’t wait to see them again.

How good was Robbie Williams on Parkinson last night! Sigh. He is so gorgeous, and funny and talented. The man has it all! I am hoping the next single from ‘Intensive Care’ will be ‘Sin, Sin, Sin’…such a stand out track. Must nearly be time for a new single? Hopefully a tour announcement too??? Please let it happen!

I am off to see the Rolling Stones this week! I have never seen them before. I am also thrilled to hear that Airbourne will be supporting!!! Their story is a major case of de-ja-vu. Signed a multi-million dollar deal with EMI Music; major hype surrounding the band; securing the support spot for the Stones…all the things (in the same order) as Jet a couple of years back (who’s debut album went to #1 on the ARIA charts their first week in).

I will be watching Rove Live this week to be in the running to win Prince ‘Purple tickets’ to see him perform at his house in LA! I want to reserve my judgment about album '3121' at this stage as I have only listened to it twice and have not had the chance to give it proper attention to decide how I feel about it. ‘Black Sweat’ is easily the best song he has done in nearly a decade though.

Pop Princess xoxox

You are not alone child

I finally got my hands on a copy of Live ‘Songs From Black Mountain’, and I must say that after my first few listens I am quite impressed. It has been quite awhile since we’ve had any new material from Live, and after reading all the quotes from Ed about how the album is based on the thoughts of females as muses, I was a little concerned. I should have had more faith, Live are yet to let their fans down.

Stand out tracks are ‘The River’, ‘Mystery’ and ‘Wings’ for me. There are moments that it does sound a little bit preachy, but hey, they make no secret of the fact tat they are a Christian band, and this has always been reflected in their music, so this comes as no great surprise. It is quite funny in ‘You Are Not Alone’ when Ed declares ‘You are not alone child’, he sounds like a priest! Perhaps that was the intention…

The word is that they will be here to tour this album in December. I have seen Live play about half a dozen times, and will continue to see them as many times as they come back. They always put on a fantastic show, and it will be great to hear some of the songs from ‘Songs From Black Mountain’ played live. This is classic Live; but when you have a winning formula why would you mess with it?

Whilst we are talking about Live, Adam Kowalczky (Ed’s cousin) also has a band, Adam and the Weight, check out their website: http://www.adamandtheweight.com/ and thank me later…

Also landing on my door step this week was Pink’s ‘I’m Not Dead’. Wow, this sees a new direction for Pink. The single ‘Stupid Girls’ does not really reflect the album. This is a very mature album containing many styles of music, from the poppy beats of ‘Stupid Girls’ (though I stand by my comments that this track’s film clip is a little hypocritical – see rant in earlier post), to the heart wrenching ‘Dear Mr. President’ and the soulful of ‘Nobody Knows’ and rocking ‘U + Ur Hand’, this album has something for everybody. This girl can certainly sing and this album should be a lot stronger than its under-performing predecessor 2003’s, ‘Try This’. I also noticed she has produced this album herself…good decision after hearing it!

Now if Christina and Justin would hurry up with their new albums!

I am off to see Aussie band Faker tonight and I am pretty damn excited about it! Will let you know how it goes….

Luv Pop Princess xo

Break the Night with Colour...

There are so many fantastic albums out at the moment that are rocking my world!!! We are so spoilt for choice at the moment it is no funny. There are a few albums in particular that I need to rant about.

As mentioned in a previous post Placebo’s ‘Meds’ is fantastic with ‘Song to Say Goodbye’ and ‘Meds’ stand out tracks. Rumour has it that these guys will be back here before the years end. Let's hope so!

Richard Ashcroft ‘Keys to the World’, hello perfection. No wonder Chris Martin talks this guy up so much. I was a fan of The Verve, but this album is something else, it is in a league of its own. This is an early contender for my Top 10 albums of the year. My fave tracks are ‘Break the Night with Colour’, ‘Why Not Nothing’ and ‘Why Do Lovers?’

We Are Scientists ‘With Love and Squalor’ has the best cover art around at the moment. I love kittens; the tunes are not bad either! These guys were signed following last years SxSW conference. I can’t wait to see these tracks live…please let them tour here soon. (Fingers crossed).

Can someone please explain to me why Starsailor are not huge in Australia? The only impact they have had chart wise was with the remix of ‘Four to the Floor’. It is criminal. The same can be said about bands like Keane and Snow Patrol…what is wrong with people? Do they need to be hit around the head with an album before they can see how amazing it is? Check out their latest offering ‘On the Outside’. It was produced by Rob Schnapf (The Vines, Beck)

Corinne Bailey Rae, people are calling here the new Macy Gray. If you have not heard the superbly laid back single ‘Put You Records On’ it is only a matter of time. Bailey Rae’s self-titled album is out now and is a great chill out album. We need more female vocalist making this sort of music, it makes a nice change to the standard Jack Johnson, Donovan Frankenreiter and Ben Harper "kick back" CD’s.

I am in great anticipation of Prince’s newie and the debut from Mark Scholtez, a Brissy boy with very cruisey jazz sounds.

Hats off to The Church, The Cat Empire and Deltra Goodrem for their performances at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. I thought they were all amazing; I felt very proud to be an Aussie!

Oi Oi Oi!

Pop Princess xo